A DESERT FOX
CHAPTER XIV
THE NORTH STAR
CHAPTER XIV
THE NORTH STAR
To succeed in crossing the Sahara was the one great purpose of the expedition that stood out before all others from the day of starting until the end.
Consequently anxious thoughts were ever pointed to the north throughout the whole period of travel, and in due time it followed that the North Star became my most significant and constant friend.
It is known to the Tuaregs by the name Elkelzif, and on many occasions I have, with something of pride, told my camel-men, or explained to strangers of the trail, “Under that star lies my house”; and so it seemed in its distant, steadfast position. It became, in fact, the definite symbol of home, the elusive “light” of a distant land that I must ever endeavour to reach, and when it showed in the sky it was welcomed almost with affection, and always as a friend. And these feelings may be understood when it is remembered that my caravan travelled or lay beneath its guiding light for over four hundred nights, which is a long time anywhere; mayhap, oppressively long in the monotony of great solitudes.
Always, through long weary nights, the North Star twinkled in its steadfast place, with the pointers of “The Plough,” out-stationed like signposts, seeming to direct the traveller to take notice and take heart from the countenance of their sovereign light, that clearly gleamed over the broad highway hung from the roof of heaven.